Man dies when his wheelchair, truck collide

Tuesday, July 9, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

A man piloting a three-wheel, motorized wheelchair died in a collision with a cargo truck at Las Vegas and Charleston boulevards.

The 46-year-old victim was maneuvering his wheelchair through heavy southbound traffic on Las Vegas Boulevard when he hit the cargo truck about 3:40 p.m. Monday and was dragged under its wheels, Metro Police Detective Tim Babcock said.

The wheelchair operator was trying to move between traffic stopped at a red light and a curb, according to witnesses. The truck's gas tank caught the wheelchair and pulled it and the man under the truck's rear dual wheels, crushing him, witnesses said.

The coroner's office is attempting to identify the man, whom Babcock said may have been a transient. Two identification cards were found, but the names were different, he said.

The truck driver, Edward Cross, 54, of North Las Vegas, was not cited, Babcock said.

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